Historic Sault Ste. Marie

Historic Sault Ste. Marie. . When American troops arrived in 1822 to establish a fort, the soldiers built a mill race, which ran from above the rapids to a mill located near the present Osborn- Portage intersection, with the water returning to the river at approximately this site. Later, Seraphine LaLonde's homestead was located here. During the short-lived boom of 1887 the property sold for over $30,000., From the 1820s through the 1890s, the Sault business center was the two blocks of Water Street bordering the hotel property on the north. Fires twice destroyed the Water Street commercial area, in August 1886 and August 1896. After the second fire, the business district relocated to Ashmun and Portage Streets., In August 1926, Chase S. Osborn, governor of Michigan 1911-12 and the only one from the Upper Peninsula, donated this site and put up $50.000 to jump-start an effort to build a modern hotel. The project was enthusiastically received by local citizens, and the necessary funding was raised in five days., The Chicago architectural firm of Pond and Pond, Martin and Lloyd designed the building, and Marshal N. Hunt of Sault Ste. Marie built it. The Ojibway Hotel held its Grand Opening on New Year's Eve 1927. The hotel leatured a formal dining room, café, and rooftop garden., Leon Deglman and his wife managed the hotel from its beginning, and then bought it in 1947. The owners added the International Lounge in the early 1950s. The hotel remained basically unchanged, however, until the 1980s, when it underwent extensive renovations to the interior. The dining room was moved to the north side of the building and became Freighters Restaurant. The former dining areas were converted to banquet and reception rooms. The lobby and other public areas kept their original style., Over the years, the hotel and restaurant have hosted many dignitaries and celebrities, including several Michigan governors, boxing greats Joe Louis and Jack Dempsey, and former Red Wings hockey star Gordie Howe. In 1992, U.S. President George H. W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush stayed here. Dean and Mary Lou Krieg purchased the hotel in April 2000, and later ioined the Ramada Plaza franchise. The owners celebrated the Ojibway Hotel's 80th anniversary in 2007. The hotel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in June 2009